LONGMONT -- There's a certain je ne sais quoi that comes from making the best of what you've got.

The cramped, yet quaint close quarters of the old Cheese Importers location oozed character, just like a perfectly ripe triple cream brie.

Tucked in each nook and cranny of the store, you'd find Provincial pottery, French candies, gifts and keepsakes. The labyrinthine layout had you weaving through the store, including the cheese cooler, collecting odds and ends. A crock of pate here, perhaps a jar of Dijon mustard there, and before you knew it, your basket was brimming as if you had been farmers-marketing in Saint Rémy.

Surrounded by whimsy in their mismatched dining room staged with velveteen princess chairs and doilied bistro tables, you could enjoy a slice of quiche Lorraine, or a pressed fromage panini and pretend you'd escaped to Europe, if only for an afternoon.

In July, after 29 years at their location on South Pratt Parkway, Cheese Importers moved into their new, larger, more prominent space in the historic Longmont electric building. And while you can still spend an entire afternoon sifting through French finds and sampling cheese specimens from the now more voluminous cheese refrigerator, the vibe has changed dramatically.

Extra cheesy would be an appropriate description of the new environs. Once quaint and kitschy, the atmosphere has become gaudy and overdone. In an effort to fill a larger space and re-create their unique certain something, the Cheese Importers have employed everything from an ornately gilded staircase to lace curtains and even a golden Christmas tree behind the bar, complete with Eiffel Tower and cherub ornaments.

If you're OK with your afternoon escape taking a Western detour away from Europe and toward a Disney Epcot-esque version of France, you'll still enjoy a trip to Cheese Importers for a fantastical foray into the fromage cooler for some sampling.

Expect the full cheese treatment on weekends, when the most samples are offered. If you go on a weekday, as I did, you can still explore a few cheeses you might otherwise not have thought to, such as cubes of creamy and nutty Fol Epi and mellow Irish Blarney. Willow River (Cheese Importers' own brand) sharp cheddar and a smear of Blue Love Torte made of triple cream gorgonzola, mascarpone and caramelized Spanish walnuts all made appearances during my midweek excursion.

After my field trip through the cheese cooler, I perused the menu at the new Bistrot des Artistes, the cafe inside Cheese Importers. You select your meal and pay, then proceed to the dining area with your number. When your order is ready, a member of the staff will find you to deliver your dish.

A crock full of French onion soup arrived first. Though it did feature sweet notes of onion, it was lightly colored and bland, lacking the richness that properly caramelized onions simmered in well-seasoned beef stock can bring. Rather than a toasted crouton on top, there was a pale slice of baguette blanketed by a slice of Gruyere that could have used a longer blistering under a hot broiler.

Saved by the sandwich! Crunchy toasted ciabatta bread painted with Dijon mustard comes layered with salami, melty fresh mozzarella and arugula leaves and can be ample compensation for any food faux pas.

The cafe now offers both a cheese and fruit plate, as well as a cheese-and-cured meats plate. Not able to pass up any sort of salumi, I ordered the latter. A beautiful presentation of three cheeses and three varieties of sliced meat are served on a cheese board big enough to share. Grapes, strawberries, marcona almonds, candied walnuts and an extraordinarily tasty yellow raisin, mustard seed chutney complete the assemblage.

Sitting in a store full of fanciful and phenomenal cheese selections, I was disappointed by the varieties of the day. All three -- a fresh asiago from Italy, a chipotle-infused cheddar from California and one other variety too unmemorable to note -- didn't inspire inclusion in a take-home package. The meats also failed to impress: a basic herbed salami, a bland mortadella and a few chewy rolls of too-thick prosciutto. Even the baguette seemed lackluster, served too cold and seemingly stale.

Rather than trust an important decision such as cheese selection to someone else, in the future I'll just take control of my own cheese destiny.

If you prefer to be the captain of your own cheese course, try your hand at assembling your own cheese plate from the mind-blowing variety inside the cooler to take home with you and have a midwinter carpet picnic. Spread out a blanket, and share a few tidbits selected from the bountiful olive bar ($9.99 per pound). The Greek glazed, roasted figs are still there, as are the cipollini onions in balsamic vinegar, so don't pass those up. Choose a few cheeses, a log of dried salami and an accompaniment of French dry-cured black olives with Herbes de Provence, or buttery Cerignola green Italian olives for a real treat. You can buy a jar of the aforementioned raisin and fig mostarda, too, just so you're not missing anything.

On the way out, stop by the patisserie counter and pick up some of the most delectable French macarons for dessert, or stay and sip some espresso or a French effervescent lemonade while you enjoy the demure almond cookies at the bar.

As I talked with the staff and poked around the new enormous environs, it appeared that the new Cheese Importers is still very much a work in progress. They have yet to obtain a beer and wine license, and the upstairs salon is still being assembled with seating and conversation corners. A French boutique complete with perfumes and gifts is emerging, as well. I even heard a mention of bringing in a French language program.

It's an ambitious and commendable undertaking, moving and expanding a reputable community business into an empire.

With the building blocks of cheese as their cornerstone, I'd say Cheese Importers eventually will build back, stronger than ever. I only hope they'll be able to recapture some of the magic that made the old Cheese Importers so endearing.